When it is being rebuilt

[Nehemiah 4:7-14]

If we look at the Internet cyber reading class, there is an article called ‘There is no fear’ written by a person named Mun-ju Kang. Part of the text reads: ‘The thing we have to fear most is fear itself,’ said President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the anxious and frustrated people of the Great Depression. At that time, an unprecedented economic crisis in the United States left 15 million people unemployed, and as financial institutions such as banks went bankrupt, extreme fear swept over the people. … What is the most important thing at this time? Roosevelt perceived that the recovery of confidence was more urgent than any other economic policy in overcoming the recession. Endless anxiety and defeatism brought about by fear are seen as the essence of crisis. Roosevelt wanted to cut off the process in which a sense of crisis causes a sense of crisis and the crisis in turn amplifies the sense of crisis’ (Internet). How about you? What kind of crisis do you have? Are you afraid? Are you worried and anxious? Are you discouraged? Do you have any doubts? When you look at our church, what kind of crisis do you think will come? Personally, I think a “Crisis of Conviction” could come. In other words, the statement that President Roosevelt thought that the important thing in the economic crisis of the 1930s was the recovery of confidence speaks of a crisis of confidence. In other words, I think the United States tried to instill a mindset of confidence that economic recovery would come out of the economic crisis. This means that the economic crisis at that time was a crisis of confidence in economic recovery. In this way, it means that our church may also face a crisis of confidence. In other words, when we do not believe in the words of Matthew 16:18, ‘the Lord builds the church, which is the body of the Lord,’ and dwells in uncertainty, that is the crisis of the church. When could this crisis of confidence come? It can come when the church, the body of the Lord, is being rebuilt.

In today's text, Nehemiah 4:7-14, when the city of Jerusalem was being rebuilt, Nehemiah and the people of Judah faced a great crisis. So, I would like to meditate on two things under the title of “When it is being rebuilt” centering on the text today: What is the Coming Crisis when you are going to be rebuilt? (2) Crisis Management. While meditating on these two, I hope that we can all manage the coming crisis well.

First, what is the Coming Crisis?

Look at Nehemiah 4:7-8: “But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.” When the walls of Jerusalem were repaired and the ruins were being repaired (v. 7), and half of Jerusalem's walls were repaired (v. 6), a crisis came to Nehemiah and the people of Judah. There is one thing we need to point out here. It is how Tobiah, the enemy of the people of Judah, mocked the people of Judah, saying, “What they are building--if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!” (v. 3). How did the people of Judah accept this mockery? In this mockery of Tobiah, the Hebrew meaning of the word “break down” is that there would ‘be cracks in (walls)’. It was mocking that this would happen. However, if we look at Nehemiah 4:7, the Bible says that “the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed.” In other words, the people of Judah were not shaken by Tobiah's ridicule, but rather, as if they had learned a lesson through Tobiah's mockery, they were closing all the cracks in the wall of Jerusalem. So, they were rebuilding the city of Jerusalem even stronger. This attitude is a wise person who knows how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Then what kind of crisis came to the people of Judah? We can think of it in 4 ways:

The first crisis is the number of enemies.

Look at Nehemiah 4:7 – “But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.” As the rebuilding of Jerusalem progressed, the number of enemies increased. At first, in Nehemiah 2:10, the opponents were specified as only two leaders, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. Then, in 2:19, Geshem, an Arabian, appeared, and three opponents arose. Then, looking at today's text 4:7, “the men of Ashdod”, not just one person, is uniting with other enemies to oppose Nehemiah and the people of Judah rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Why are they united? They allied themselves in trying to prevent the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, which was the same wrong purpose. God's people are sometimes not easy to work with. However, the people of this world seem to have no problem in resisting the Lord's work together.

The second crisis was a combined armed attack by adversaries.

In Nehemiah 4:7-8, when the opponents heard that the city of Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the ruins were being repaired, they were very indignant and plotted together. What was their intention? Look at verse 8: “They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.” In other words, the enemies were united and attacked Jerusalem. Therefore, they wanted to stir up trouble against Jerusalem. And the city of Jerusalem was besieged by the enemies. Sanballat and the Samaritans to the north, Tobiah and the Ammonites to the east, Geshem and the Arabs to the south, and the Ashdodites to the west were besieging Nehemiah and the people of Judah who were rebuilding Jerusalem. Ashdod was said to have been the most important city in Palestine at the time. And the Palestinians would not have wanted another important and strong community in Jerusalem to spring up. This union of adversaries reminds us of Luke 23:12 – “That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.” In persecuting Jesus, we see the adversaries who avoid a united front. This phenomenon was already prophesied by the psalmist in Psalms 2:2 – “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.”

The third crisis was discouragement.

Look at Nehemiah 4:10 – “Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.’” The people of Judah were discouraged because of the multitude of work. They were discouraged because there were still many mounds of dirt left, but now they heard the news of the adversaries' united front and military reverence. So, they felt even more discouraged. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed before, and the heaps of earth and stones scattered here and there had to be removed and the walls had to be rebuilt. So, the work had to be doubled. That was why the people of Judah were discouraged because they had too much to do. Also, how discouraged was it when they felt that the number of enemies was increasing, and the attacks were getting worse in this yard where the walls of Jerusalem were half rebuilt?

Here is an instructive parable created by a Christian teacher. One day, the devil brought demons and attended a “weapons exhibition” where the weapons that used to destroy and corrupt God’s people were displayed. There were many different types of weapons on display, and one of them had the highest price. Curious about this, the evil spirits asked the devil: ‘Boss, why is this weapon so expensive?’ Then the boss gave the following answer: ‘People don't know I use this weapon. So, I can easily captivate people with this crowd. How many of God's people have been corrupted by this weapon.’ The name of that weapon was “discouragement” (Lee). Our souls may become discouraged because there is so much to do in rebuilding the church. Discouragement can quickly contaminate the entire rebuilding atmosphere, as it leads to a reluctance to try any further, apathy, and hopeless inertia (Packer).

The fourth crisis is fear.

News of a conspiracy was brought to Nehemiah and the people of Judah by Jewish informants that the adversaries would unite and launch an armed attack. What was particularly frightening was the report that there would be a surprise attack from different directions simultaneously entering Jerusalem (White). Look at Nehemiah 4:11-12: “Also our enemies said, ‘Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.’ Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, ‘Wherever you turn, they will attack us.’” Henry Thoreau, an American thinker and naturalist, is said to have written in his reading on September 7, 1851: “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear”. Why? The reason is because fear paralyzes us. Fear is contagious. It can also paralyze others. Fear and faith can never revolve in our hearts. Fearful people discourage and defeat others. Look at Deuteronomy 20:8 – “Then the officers shall add, ‘Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.’”

A crisis will come when the church, which is the body of the Lord, is being rebuilt. In the midst of this, what we must keep in mind is ‘Increased opposition is increased opportunity!’ The Lord will turn the crisis that discourages and frightens our souls, strengthen our hearts, and give us hope. We must obey the will of the Lord who wants to build His church. The Lord will build our church through those who obey.

Second and last, how should Crisis Management be done?

If we look at ‘Crisis Management of Successful People,’ written by Yeon-joong Kim, who holds the record for car sales in the Guinness Book of Records for 10 consecutive years, one of the things successful people have in common is their risk management. They are exceptionally strong in critical situations. In a word, it has an excellent ability to turn a crisis into a moment of opportunity. As an example, there is a person named Hoon-hyeon Jo, who is 9th in Go. When Hemp is put in a crisis due to an enemy attack or when he judges that it is impossible to win, his head often comes up with tricks that others cannot imitate. Not only that, but befitting the nickname ‘Swallow’, he does not dwell on the practicalities of small battles. But he has the determination to bite down on the enemy’s weaknesses with quick tactics and to overthrow them at once (Internet). What did Nehemiah do when he faced with a crisis? Let us learn his crisis management.

Nehemiah prayed to God with the people of Judah.

Look at Nehemiah 4:9a – “But we prayed to our God ….” When did Nehemiah pray? He prayed to God in a situation where his enemies were surrounded on all sides because they were in the east, west, south, and north. At the time of the Exodus, the Bible says that the Israelites were “hemmed in by the desert” (Exod. 14:3) in front of the Red Sea. At that time, when the Israelites were discouraged by their surroundings and complained to Moses, Moses looked up and prayed to God (v. 15). From the beginning of the crisis, Nehemiah clearly prayed for God's protection. He also asked God to move the hearts of the people of Judah to pray to God with him (Packer). I am reminded of the words of Pastor George Muller: ‘He who has not learned to fight life on his knees still does not know the ABCs of the Christian faith’ (Muller).

Nehemiah posted a guard.

Look at Nehemiah 4:9 – “… and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” Nehemiah did not forget his responsibility while praying to God. In other words, he diligently did what he had to do as a man of prayer. Nehemiah then posted the guard to ward off the invaders. Where and how did he post the guard? Look at verse 13: “Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.” Nehemiah placed guards in prominent and vulnerable places on the wall. Then the invaders would be able to see that the Jews were ready to fight. The reason Nehemiah posted the guard together for all the tribes was because they knew how to stand firm together as a family and comfort each other. The people of Judah not only repaired the wall near their house (3:28-30), but they stood guard with their families to protect their home and city.

Nehemiah constantly challenged the people of Judah to fully trust and have confidence in God.

Look at Nehemiah 4:14 – “After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.’” What is important here is the leader Nehemiah's faith, confidence, and confidence. What would happen if the leader showed weak faith, uncertainty, and lack of confidence in front of the people of Judah who were discouraged and trembling in fear because of their enemies? Nehemiah's heart was occupied by the "great and awesome" God (1:5; 4:14). And he believed that God was strong enough to save the people of Judah in the midst of crisis.

There is a saying: ‘Unbelief maximizes the problem, but faith makes the Lord look bigger’ (Lee). When difficulties come to us, if the problem seems bigger than our Lord, this is unbelief. Nehemiah was able to challenge the Jewish people with confidence and confidence even in the midst of a great crisis because he looked at the great and awesome God. He didn’t fear his adversaries because he feared his God. Fear of man is proof that we do not fear God. Those who fear God are not afraid of people. Hear what Moses praying said to the Israelites: “… Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exod. 14:13-14).

When the church, which is the body of the Lord, is being rebuilt, enough crises can come. At that time, we may be afraid and be gripped by caresses. However, Christians who live by looking to the Lord, who is the head of the church, have the wisdom to turn crisis into an opportunity given by the Lord. They wait in silence before the Lord with patience, praying and expecting how the Lord will build them and the church through the crisis. At the same time, they engage in spiritual warfare with faith while preparing more thoroughly even in the midst of a crisis. We go into battle relying only on the victorious Lord of salvation. Therefore, we witness and experience the works of salvation and victory by the Lord. May God bless you with this blessing.